Hot – Turning51

I guess it’s a good thing Darren went back to Boise when he did, because he’s not into the heat, and we’ve been clearing 100 degrees for several days straight this week.

It’s hot, hot, hot; it’s oh-my-gosh hot. John and I like the heat, but we decided that over 100 is a bit high even for us. It was 103 on Friday and then yesterday it was 106, and today it’s 102 so far and rising.

A pool, don’t you wish you had a pool? Oh my, would I like to have a pool. Over a month ago I ordered a little above-ground blow-up thing, which was supposed to arrive in 2-4 weeks but didn’t. The company isn’t emailing back and the phone number doesn’t work. Hopefully we didn’t lose our money. Probably it’s backordered until, who knows, sometime this winter. There’s nothing remotely pool-like available anywhere at any price right now. I assume everyone’s desperate to keep their stuck-at-home kids entertained.

Last fall I was wishing I had a pool after we had use of one for a week at a vacation rental in Arizona and I totally fell in love with it. At the time I loved it for the mental benefits – being in the water and slowly swimming back and forth across the pool seemed to really ground me somehow.

Now I imagine that being in the water could help me recover from the surgery. Even though it’s been almost 5 months, I still feel all stiff and bound-up somehow. It’s like there’s cardboard tubes in my abdomen. Also my hands and feet are swollen and tingly from the chemo, even though it’s been a month since I finished those treatments. My recovery has been very slow, and it seems like being fully immersed and moving around in the water without the constant, same-direction pull of gravity would somehow help my body recover better.

A friend of mine had good things to say about an outdoor YMCA pool near us. I called the Y for reservation details, and apparently they release the reservations online at midnight each night, and I’m told that they’re all taken by 6 AM. So I’d have to set my alarm for the middle of the night and log in at midnight. It sounds like trying to get concert tickets! And that’s not just once, that’s for each day you want to go!

I emailed my friend back (like seriously, I have to set an alarm for the middle of the night to make a reservation?) and he confirmed, yep, he sets his alarm for midnight. He said he doesn’t have any trouble getting back to sleep, but I would likely lay awake for an hour or two. So I’m not going to bother. Also I’m worried about COVID infections going back up again, and I don’t know the locker room situation, and I don’t really want to share a pool anyway.

John and I thought we might be able to cool down our hot tub and use it as a dipping pool. Not big enough to swim, but maybe nice to cool off? Several weeks ago we turned it down as far as it goes (80 degrees) and we’ve been waiting for the water to drop in temperature. A lot of good that did – the temperature is not dropping, it’s rising!

We even tried putting a bag of ice into it once, but it didn’t make any difference, lol.

The water is currently at 108, and it’s flashing a warning that it’s overheated (108 degree water is too hot for safety, even in the middle of the winter). So much for that idea!

I also wish we had gotten our air conditioning installed (we planned to last spring, but we got distracted with the cancer diagnosis and surgery in Boston). Thank goodness we at least have a good evaporative cooler (swamp cooler). In the dry New Mexico air, an evaporative cooler works nearly as well as an air conditioner, so we’re ok.

And we have a covered patio and two huge pine trees, so we’re lucky to have a comfortable backyard.